Please tell me your opinion regarding this math problem

tardzilla

tardzilla

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Here is a response that was extremely well-received on another website:

I teach math and have a second grade son learning this new math, and I side with the teacher. The teacher has been teaching this strategy in class for several weeks (at this point in the year). The question is worded poorly. It should have read: How can you use the Make 10 Strategy when you are adding 8 + 5?
The answer is (8 + 2) + 3 = 13.
I have a second grader who is also learning this, and it is a useful strategy.
The problem is that most people who "learned" math only know how to think of things one way. They can only replicate the processes of math in the way they were taught. They do not know how to look at the same problem they know how to solve and think of other possible ways of solving it.
This leads to an unintelligent general population that is locked into copying the math that they previously "learned." When math learning is reduced to easily copied computations, students end up poorer for it.
Computers (and eventually robots) are far faster, more accurate, and cheaper than people at completing repetitive tasks. We do not want to teach students how to be good computers. We want to teach students how to think flexibly so they will be able to adapt to the brave new world we are entering.
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i dunno how much opinion someone can really have on math. its.... math.
 
'S', it's maths, there is an 'S' in the word mathematics.
 
So, like, you make ten by adding two from the five, and then throw the remaining three away?
 
This approach to math is from Common Core, a federally standardized educational curriculum instituted by the Federal Government. Some states have rejected the funding (and Federal oversight), but most accepted the funding and resulting oversight.
 
The kid is right. The teacher is wrong.
 
Strange that they're teaching this "make 10" strategy. When I was a kid that's something I came up with on my own and my teachers told me it was wrong, that I should solve math in as few of steps as possible... "making 10" is a wasted step that slows you down.

I guess I was right and they were wrong.
 
Another quote in defense of the teacher:

Hi, I'm a mathematician. I'm a data scientist now but when I was in graduate school I was working through an NSF scholarship which involved testing various elements of the what would become the common core in the in classroom.
While this problem is poorly worded, the make 10 strategy is quite sound and a great, great way to improve children's performance on mental arithmetic. It's how I've always thought about mental arithmetic, it's how every math person I know thinks of mental arithmetic, and now, it's how we're teaching it.
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A bunch of Euros agreed with him, and it was a highly rated comment.
 
This is how I do math in my head, but you can't defend a terribly worded math question. The very verbiage of this line of math is silly.

Can anybody provide an real life example of how somebody following this line of math is superior to old school math?
 
I would have to hear someone explain the benefit of this.

At first glance, they just seem to be adding superfluous steps.
 
I have a degree in math, and remember coming across this joke in my undergrad years.

How a math problem changed its look ...

Variation #1:


Up to the 1960's

A peasant sells a bag of potatoes for $10.
His costs amount to 4/5 of his selling price.
What is his profit?

In the early 1970's

A farmer sells a bag of potatoes for $10.
His costs amount to 4/5 of his selling price, i.e., $8.
What is his profit?

1970's (new math)

A farmer exchanges a set P of potatoes with a set M of money.
The cardinality of the set M is equal to $10 and each element of M is worth $1.
Draw 10 big dots representing the elements of M.
The set of production cost is comprised of 2 big dots less then the set M.
Represent C as a subset of M and give the answer to the question:
What is the cardinality of the set of profits?

1980's

A farmer sells a bag of potatoes for $10.
His production costs are $8 and his profit is $2.
Underline, the word "potatoes" and discuss with your classmates.

1990's

A farmer sells a bag of potatoes for $10.00.
His production costs are 0.80 of his revenue.
On your calculator graph revenue versus costs.
Run the "POTATO" program on your computer to determine the profit.
Discuss the result with the other students in your group.
Write a brief essay that analyzes how this example relates to the real world of economics.

I think this illustrates well that math education is not fixed in time. Everyone seems to think the way they learned it is the right way, and everything else is crazy. Though some approaches have shown themselves to be particularly bad ideas. Mass education is garbage in general.
 
djacobox372 said:
Strange that they're teaching this "make 10" strategy. When I was a kid that's something I came up with on my own and my teachers told me it was wrong, that I should solve math in as few of steps as possible... "making 10" is a wasted step that slows you down.

I guess I was right and they were wrong.
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I did the same as well

I dont see why this is taught though,

seems like a lot of effort just to teach kids single digit addition, which IMO should be memorized.
 
djacobox372 said:
Strange that they're teaching this "make 10" strategy. When I was a kid that's something I came up with on my own and my teachers told me it was wrong, that I should solve math in as few of steps as possible... "making 10" is a wasted step that slows you down.

I guess I was right and they were wrong.
Click to expand...

Same. In theory it should teach kids a little more process and a little less rote memorization. But, if you're concurrently teaching the kids grammar and writing, they should be praised for noting the flaws in the way the question is written.
 
Halge said:
So, like, you make ten by adding two from the five, and then throw the remaining three away?
Click to expand...

No, they're saying because 8+5 is so difficult make a 10 out of the numbers to make it easier to finish the equation.

8+2=10+3=13
 
There is more than one way to approach math. I don't care how it's done as long as it gets results, but it should be flexible enough to allow different students to use different methods. And in before somebody blames Obama for this.
 
Poorly worded question. If you're adding 8 + 5 the final product has no way of being 10. "Make a 10".... "make more specific questions".
 
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